Connections
by Askani Blue
Summary: [CCD] Nokoru begins getting messages from Idomu, but something is very wrong.
1. Messages

  
  


Chapter 1  
Messages

  
  
"Good afternoon, Nokoru san," spelled out the words on the screen where a report had been sitting. The blonde man had been so set on _not_ paying attention to the screen or piles of paperwork, it took him a few moments to notice it. Eventually turning from the bright window, he started a bit at the message. "Remember me?"  
  
He uselessly looked about the empty office before typing his reply. "Idomu san? Is that you?"  
  
"Yes. How are you? I hope you don't mind me taking over your screen, but you didn't seem to be using it at the moment."  
  
Nokoru let a smile reach his features. "I'm good, and I don't mind at all, though you could have called me versus breaking back into Clamp's computer systems. I'm sure it was harder this time around, we've upgraded several times since you were here last."  
  
"I've upgraded, too, so it wasn't too hard to manage it." The words paused for a moment before they continued. "Besides, what fun is a phone when this way I get to see you?"  
  
Again Nokoru smiled, this time wider as he looked up to the cameras above his office. "Yes," he replied, after waving at the cameras. "But we could hear each other over a phone, though certainly you could allow us to speak over this to each other." He'd lost touch with Idomu entirely a couple years ago and it was so good to "hear" from him even in type.  
  
There was another pause in his answering but eventually it appeared. "I will have to see what I can do about that if I can talk to you again."  
  
He made note of the odd statement but let it by. "That would be nice. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this break in?" he asked with an easy laugh.  
  
"Just wanted to see how you were; you don't have to worry about me crashing your systems again... Though if you'd like, I could shut down all the printers, effectively stopping the flow of paperwork..."  
  
Now Nokoru laughed loudly and he shook a finger at one of the cameras. "Tisk tisk, that would cause so much trouble," he typed out.  
  
"I could shut down the unessential parts of the systems entirely and give everyone a day off." Again Nokoru shook his head. "I'd leave the power to Gamera Hall and the subways I promise..."  
  
"No."  
  
"My, my... how disappointing, you've grown up."  
  
Nokoru balked at the screen. "I have not!"  
  
"I suppose being around Takamura san has effected you."  
  
Now Nokoru was pouting. "I just don't want to bother anyone."  
  
"I'm sure."  
  
"I swear; I haven't gotten boring." He made a face at the cameras.  
  
"Alright, alright, I give. So how have you been?"  
  
Again Nokoru thought the shift was odd but he said nothing. "I've been good, the transition to rijichou was as easy as expected and Suoh and Akira have stayed with me, though Akira has a second job at a restaurant. I think he's staying here with us because he thinks he has to, to stay our friend, though I've assured him that things are otherwise. He's getting married soon and so is Suoh. Suoh's will be this summer and Akira's will be in the winter."  
  
"Wonderful. That gives you enough time in-between for you to help out with them both."  
  
Nokoru's smile broadened at the thought. "Oh, yes. They'll be beautiful. Suoh's is going to be at the Asaeda gardens and it will be completely traditional, of course."  
  
"Of course," he echoed and Nokoru was about to happily ramble on about the flowers they had picked out when he realized he was being rude.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm going on about weddings months away and I haven't asked you how you've been."  
  
The pause in the type was longer this time but it replied finally. "Busy. Feeling like a bit of a piece of hardware. I've been enlisted in a project of my family's so I don't have much free time."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is the project at least interesting?"  
  
Again a pause, this one longer still. "I'd rather be back in Europe at my piano, but I'll live." Nokoru started to reach for the keyboard but he continued. "I'm sorry I didn't write when you for so long, especially when you took the office of rijichou. I meant to but I've been too locked up in this before now."  
  
Nokoru smiled up softly at a camera. "That's alright; it's good to hear from you anyway. I hope the project gets better for you."  
  
"Thanks." Nokoru didn't like the tone of his words for some reason. It bothered him though he kept his worried frown to himself. "I'm sorry. I have to go. It was nice talking with you again." The words had barely sprung up before the monitor clicked back to the report he'd been "working" on.  
  
"Idomu san?" he asked aloud to the monitor and looked up at the cameras. _'Gone...'_ He didn't like how suddenly he'd left. Whatever his family was working on was obviously very hush, hush. Surely his father would not appreciate Idomu speaking with a member of the Imonoyama group. Hopefully, he would be able to talk to him again soon.  
  
Honestly, Nokoru was having trouble not grinning just from having spoken to him for the little bit that he had. He'd forgotten how much he liked talking to Idomu and how much he missed talking to him. The letters they'd exchanged over the few years had dwindled a bit before they stopped utterly barely two years ago, his last letter never returned. Nokoru supposed that Idomu had gotten too busy to reply and eventually he'd stopped watching the mail for his answer… mostly.  
  
It was good to know that Idomu still thought of him. Idly he opened the lowest drawer on his new desk and removed a bit of the large stack of pages he'd been careful to move to his new office. Forgetting utterly about even feigning work, Nokoru sat back and thumbed through the section of letters from Idomu from far before with a gentle smile on his face.  
  


=-=-=

  
Almost a week went by till Nokoru's screen went black again, with only white type across it. "Good afternoon, Nokoru san."  
  
Nokoru let out an undignified squeal as he dropped back down in his seat (Akira's tea utterly forgotten). "It's Idomu," he explained to his friends so as to not look utterly insane as he waved at the cameras. "Good afternoon, Idomu san. How are you?"  
  
As Suoh and Akira stepped over to his desk, Idomu answered. "I'm good, how are you? You look well." Another line popped up before he could reply. "As do you, Takamura san, Ijyuin san. I trust you all had fun at the fair?"  
  
Suoh bristled behind him. "He was watching us…?"  
  
"Suoh..." Nokoru began but text began to appear across the screen again.  
  
"I'm sorry, Takamura san. I didn't mean to intrude, I was curious where Nokoru san was when he wasn't in his office."  
  
They all blinked but Akira san asked, "He can hear us?"  
  
"No, I haven't been able to arrange that yet, but I can read your lips from watching you."  
  
"Oh, that makes sense," he said to himself. "I'd offer you some tea, Yuudaiji san if I could." He spoke clearly, turning to a camera and looked back to the screen quickly.  
  
"Thank you for the thought." Again another line followed. "I don't suppose my word that this is utterly benign would ease you much, Takamura san?"  
  
"Probably not," he stated flatly, crossing his arms.  
  
Nokoru gave him a cross look before looking back to the screen. "Ah well," the words said. "I suppose that's for the best. I'd rather Nokoru san was protected by a raving paranoid than not."  
  
Nokoru laughed. "Suoh's just cautious, or at least that's what he tells me," he typed. Reading lips could be flawed and he wanted to speak clearly to his old friend. Suoh huffed behind him.  
  
"I'll bring your tea to your desk so you can keep talking," Akira said happily as he padded off for the tray.  
  
"No, no, I didn't mean to interrupt your tea. I'll speak to you later."  
  
Nokoru shook his head, letting Akira go. "Thank you, Akira san," he said aloud before he went back to typing. "Don't be foolish, who knows when you'll get another chance. I won't miss talking to you again for a cup of tea, even one of Akira's." Suoh huffed again and walked back down to the sofa.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Nokoru shook his head. "Don't mention it. I guess what your family is working on is very serious for it to be so difficult for you to even talk to me. I looked around to see what the Yuudaiji group was working on and found nothing at all. Usually we would catch whispers."  
  
Text sprung to the screen quickly. "Stay away from it." Nokoru started a bit at the harshness but the next line came up quickly after. "My apologies. I don't mean to make it sound as if I don't trust you with it. I know how honest you are. I only meant that I didn't want you getting involved. Even a careful look will catch eyes and attention will turn to me logically enough." Nokoru was about to respond, very sorry for having done something so foolish, but a last line came up before he could. "It would be bad if these discussions were found out."  
  
"My deepest apologies, Idomu san. Of course you're right, that was childish of me," he typed with a sigh. He only hoped he hadn't already done the damage. "I was careful but of course you're right: there is no careful enough for something like this."  
  
"No, you were curious, a natural reaction I should have anticipated. Don't apologize." The typed line was followed by another after a short pause. "Please, Nokoru san, promise me you won't go looking for me again."  
  
"I promise. Don't worry about it another moment. I swear I'll be perfectly happy for the time that we can talk like this." Nokoru again got the twisted feeling that something was very wrong, but of course he was right. If their correspondence was found, Idomu could be cut off from talking to him utterly.  
  
"Thank you," he replied. "So I saw you had particular fun trying to win goldfish for some of the girls."  
  
Nokoru brightened immediately at the mention of the fair. "Oh yes! It was great fun, though I turned the task over to Suoh after a bit. I'm afraid it took me a half hour to win one," he typed with an embarrassed laugh. "Though Suoh had the ones for the other five girls on the first tries."  
  
"Yes, that was amusing, though you got the ring toss on the first try."  
  
Nokoru wished again that this was over a phone; so much inflection was lost with simple text. He shook his head, typing, "That was just a lucky shot."  
  
"People say that 'luck' is simply a way for people to claim their victories without claiming their defeats, so how is it that with you its the opposite?"  
  
Nokoru blinked a moment. "It _was_ only luck. Such things just aren't my specialty, like the goldfish game."  
  
"It seems to be a pattern with you, is all: if you succeed you were lucky and if you failed then it was you're failure." Again he blinked at the screen. Idomu san was always very direct but this statement cut home a bit too much. "It's enough to make a man worry." After the unsettling-ness of the first statement, the line after it swung him in an entirely different direction and suddenly Nokoru was trying to remember if the cameras were in color and if so was the heat he felt in his face visible to him?  
  
"I'm fine, you don't have to worry." He tried his best to look convincing and steered the conversation elsewhere. "So, what have you been doing besides things I can't know about, surely you don't spend every waking moment toiling away."  
  
"It certainly feels like it, but I find small things to amuse me. Reading makes up the vast majority of my pastime, which incidentally makes my fast reading very irritating. I finish them so quickly I'm beginning to fear running out."  
  
Nokoru laughed lightly (causing his two companions to look up at him). "There are so many I don't think that's possible. What have you read recently?" It had been a good while since he'd taken time to read, always busy with some event or case or another.  
  
"Hm. I finished off 'The Robot Chronicles' by Asimov 'Dune' by Frank Herbert last evening. I'm going back through the science fiction classics at the moment."  
  
Nokoru nodded. Idomu san had a mind comparable to his own so he doubted the entire works of those would last him more than a couple weeks (if he read slowly). "What of your piano? Did they bring you one for there?"  
  
The pause that followed was longer than Nokoru would have liked. "I'm afraid not. It's not possible at the moment."  
  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something hurtful. Surely they could at least bring you a keyboard if not a proper piano."  
  
Again a pause. "No, I'm afraid I'll have to be content with my books and talking to you." That second pause was enough to convince Nokoru not to pursue the topic but Idomu san switched the topic before he could. "So what great event are you working on now?"  
  
Happily Nokoru went on to ramble on and on about the autumn ball that was planned for the university and high school divisions. The multi-colored paper decorations, the costumes, the live deer he had arranged to be there, even the catering: no detail was spared. They had just gotten through the new type of cookie that Akira had made the other day (and thus added to the plans for the ball), when the sudden words sprang up. "I have to go. It was good talking to you, again."  
  
As before, the words had barely appeared before the screen flashed back to the facts and figures that had been there before. Nokoru sighed at the end of their talk and flexed his hands, finding them a bit sore after all that typing. Idly he glanced at the clock and jumped to see it was after six. He looked up to see that Akira was gone and Suoh was still doing work (though Nokoru couldn't image what Suoh could _still_ be working on as they were normally out of the office by three thirty). Beside him his tea was cold and untouched. "Suoh, I'm very sorry to have kept you here so late; I didn't realize the time."  
  
Suoh only nodded and signed a last sheet. "That's alright, I found things to keep me busy. Ijyuin san had to run home to cook supper. Honestly I fear for what those two women are going to do when he moves out."  
  
Nokoru laughed, hiding his face behind his fan. "I have a feeling they'll live on take out and hire a cleaning service." Suoh nodded as Nokoru stepped down to him. "I didn't get a thing done today. I'm surprised you didn't pull out the plug to the computer," he stated, looking up at his towering bodyguard playfully.  
  
"Eh," Suoh looked a little disgusted. "You seemed like you were enjoying yourself so much, I figured I'd let you continue. I'm just hoping you put forth effort tomorrow to catch up," he added sternly.  
  
Nokoru laughed nervously. "Why, Suoh, are you insinuating that that I don't always put forth effort?"  
  
"Yes," he replied as they walked out and Nokoru could do little but duck his head with an embarrassed smile on his lips.  
  
"I have gotten better over the years..." he added quietly, but Suoh's only response was a huff.  
  


=-=-=

  
Months passed in this state, with his screen randomly commandeered by his absent friend for sometimes brief moments and others hours. Not only were Idomu's messages becoming more frequent, usually once every two days at this point, but Nokoru had a sneaking suspicion that Idomu was in the Clamp system at times without talking to Nokoru. Nokoru had the distinct feeling of being watched at times, as did Suoh and Akira. It was a bright, early autumn day when his screen went black again. "Hello Nokoru san."  
  
Even after so long he still jumped to the keyboard with a wide smile. None of Suoh's misgivings or even his own could dampen his happiness at seeing the plain white text. In a moment all concerns over the watched feeling was gone. "Hello Idomu san. How are you?"  
  
"Good, and you?"  
  
"I'm glad to hear that; I'm good, as well."  
  
"I see you have enough paperwork to keep you company." Nokoru flinched a bit at the comment. "Did Suoh catch you doing something?"  
  
Nokoru couldn't help but laugh out loud a bit at that. "Not that I know of but he's tricky sometimes." He sent that line over but the mention of Suoh brought back Suoh's worries. "Idomu san?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Nokoru paused a moment, seeking the right way to word it without making Idomu feel unwanted. "Have you been accessing our system times other then when you're talking to me? We've had the feeling of being watched and I wanted to be sure it was you."  
  
There was a pause before the reply appeared. "Yes, that's me. I'm sorry to intrude. I don't mean to spy, it's just that my options are rather limited and sometimes its nice to look in on your bright office or even just look at other areas of the campus, not exclusively on you." The lines came up and were followed by a slower one. "It must have been disconcerting; please apologize to them for me. I'll stay outside when I don't want to announce myself."  
  
"No, no!" he answered quickly. "You don't have to at all. It was just confusing." He followed that line with another question. "Why didn't you say hello when you came in, so to speak?"  
  
"I didn't want to bother you. Your paperwork was really being ignored and I thought Suoh was going to take a fit." Nokoru laughed a little at that as the next line appeared. "I didn't want to monopolize your time."  
  
He shook his head at the screen. "You don't have to worry about that. How about I promise to get my work done at the normal rate?" he was careful to add that qualifier. "And you just say when you're here, even if it's just a hello exchanged?"  
  
"Deal."  
  
They talked for a bit before Nokoru went back to an old subject. "Any luck so far as to us being able to actually talk to each other?" Nokoru didn't want him to take unnecessary risks for something so small but he wanted badly to hear his voice.  
  
"I've been working on that actually." Nokoru's heart jumped at the very thought. "It still needs a lot of work, so I'm not saying it'll happen tomorrow, but with hope I'll have it in maybe a month."  
  
"That's okay," he answered happily. "I can wait. Thank you for trying; I'm sorry if I've been a bother over it."  
  
"I'd hardly call asking me once a month or so a bother. Don't worry about it. I'd love to hear you as well. It would make talking much easier."  
  
They talked a bit more before Idomu said that Nokoru should get some work done, but that he'd stick around for a bit more. He conceded the point and went to work (though his eyes kept drifting to the screen to be sure that Idomu san hadn't said anything). All and all he got less done than usual and he began to see the logic in Idomu san saying nothing when he'd been there before, but... it was comforting to know he was there watching him, all the same.  
  


=-=-=

  
"The winter formal should go off well, we've gotten a very popular singer for the music and..." Nokoru went on to describe the event in detail as he took "a break" to talk to him. Idomu san said he was nearly ready for them to talk to each other and Nokoru was exceptionally cheerful. One thing he regretted about their talks was that they were very one-sided. Even small, non-project talk about him was off limits, as it only seemed to depress Idomu san. Nokoru was beginning to wonder how long the Yuudaiji group meant to keep him on this mystery project… when the project became far more than an abstract thought for Nokoru. In mid conversation the screen flashed, but Nokoru thought nothing of it (Idomu san had had to leave without saying goodbye a few times) but instead of his normal screen appearing it was simply another black screen.  
  
He was beginning to type when text came up. "Hello."  
  
Nokoru's eyes narrowed at the solitary word. "Idomu san?"  
  
"Idomu?" echoed the text, confirming his fears. "Is that its real name? Idomu." It then filled the screen with Idomu's name as if getting used to it before the screen went empty again.  
  
"Who are you?" His pulse had shot up and he was feeling panicked, but he kept himself calm, figuring that whoever this was, they could see him, too, but the whoever didn't answer him, but rather went off on their own thoughts.  
  
"Shame on 642, wandering out to look in on people like a peep." Nokoru began to reply but they continued. "Its keepers will be very displeased."  
  
"Idomu didn't tell me anything! He doesn't need to be turned in! Please!" he begged. The way this person spoke was frightening and Nokoru could swear it had gotten colder, as if the chill was pouring from the monitor, spreading out across his desk and over the floor. Nokoru was genuinely frightened and that didn't happen often, and not only for Idomu and the consequences he had brought down on himself just to talk him, but also for _himself_ from this... whoever it was. Yanking out the network cable to escape from it was sounding reasonable, but he didn't out of fear for Idomu. "Please don't turn him in!"  
  
But the mystery typer continued on as if blind to Nokoru's pleads. "They'll cut his cables to the outside for this. Leave him in the empty dark for a bit." Nokoru tried to respond but they continued over him. "Thank you so much for luring it out."  
  
"No!" he not only typed but shouted, drawing the eyes of his companions, but the typer blotted out his shout as the page filled with sixes, sixes from every language that Nokoru knew and some that he didn't, and as the lines scrolled up, Nokoru saw two gaps form in the sea of sixes. The holes closed off and moved up with the lines to take the form of two eyes. As they reached Nokoru's the scrolling stopped a moment before the tower next to his feet made a snapping sound of a small explosion right before a louder crack left his monitor and the screen exploded out at him.  
  



	2. Thieves

  
A bit thanks to my reviewer Fantasia3. CCD fics tend to get missed, its always nice to hear someone is reading.  
  
Author's Note: This has shonnen ai so if you have problems with that... what the hell are you doing reading Clamp anyway? giggles   
  


Chapter 2  
Theives

  
  
Nokoru woke to the sterile light of a hospital room. He blinked, reassuring himself that his eyes were both working, though his face had many bandages on it and his hands were mittens. The entire episode came back in frightening clarity and he shot up in bed. "Idomu!"  
  
"Kaichou, you're awake!" Akira leapt up from his seat.  
  
Fearful for his missing friend, Nokoru began to untangle himself from the blankets. "Idomu, we have to find him! He's-"  
  
"Kaichou, please," Akira pleaded, easily over powering him to hold him in the bed. "Takamura san will be very cross with me if I don't take care of you. You don't have to worry about Yuudaiji san, I promise. The hospital is secure and Takamura san has been hunting him down since the attack. Please, be still. The doctors say it's a miracle you weren't blind-"  
  
He was cut off as Nokoru (slowed by the painkillers the nurses had no doubt given him) finally understood what he was saying. "No, no! Akira call Suoh back now! They can't know we're looking for him; Idomu isn't the one that did this to me."  
  
Akira looked at him as if he was one of those poor people that made excuses for their abusive lovers: _'He didn't mean to throw me down the stairs.'_ "Kaichou, please calm down. You're going to injure yourself more."  
  
"Listen to me, I'm not ranting," he said as calmly as he could. "Idomu didn't do this... Someone else intercepted our communications..." He shuddered at the memories of the coldness, but regained his composure. "It wasn't Idomu, they were connected with the project he's working on. Akira, he's in danger and if they find out that Suoh is looking for him, I don't know what they'll do to him. Call him back immediately!" he ordered.  
  


  
Suoh returned promptly within an hour of Akira's call and he assured Nokoru that he had been subtle in his search. After relaying the events that had led up to the attack, they eventually believed him that Idomu was innocent. "Kaichou it was terrifying," Akira began, after giving him a glass of water. "All of a sudden you were shouting then the explosion. We still don't know how the monitor was made to explode; we've found no traces of a bomb." Akira sat down and looked over at the very silent Suoh. "It threw glass everywhere and when we ran up you were unconscious and so bloody... It was horrible." He barely whispered the last part.  
  
Suoh had said precious little since his return, extremely shaken by it all. Nokoru wanted to reassure him that he was fine, save a few deep cuts, but trapped in the hospital bed as he was, that wasn't very easy. Reassuring the ninja was never easy to begin with. "I'm sorry you both were so frightened. Unfortunately cuts on the head bleed badly, but I'll be fine." His doctors assured him that all measures would be taken to see that he had no lasting scars, though he wasn't extremely concerned with that. "Suoh," He looked over to him from the window. "I need you to resume your search but do so with the utmost care. I fear what is being done to him but I fear even more that could be done if it's discovered that we're seeking him."  
  
Suoh nodded but seemed uneasy with leaving him. "Don't worry about me, Suoh. I'm well guarded here and besides, I don't think whoever they were will come after me again. I got the feeling that I wasn't so much a target as a convenient thrill." Suoh's eyes narrowed. "The harm and pain were the ends in and of themselves, not a means." Akira was openly distressed by that, but Suoh could see the logic. If all it wanted to do harm and was uninterested in whoever the victim happened to be, then it probably wouldn't pursue Nokoru but rather look for someone easier.  
  
"I'm afraid as for your search, I have precious little information to give you. I assume it has something to do with computers, as they have Idomu san working on it and a few odd things that the person who attacked me said. First, he or she didn't know Idomu's name at all. They called him 642 and referred to him as an 'it'." _'Its keepers will be very displeased...'_ "They also said that they'd cut his cables to the outside and though he tried not to say anything, I gathered from what Idomu san himself said, he wasn't able to go outside and the rooms he was in were very dark."  
  
"You think it's something photo-sensitive he's working on?" Suoh asked.  
  
"I'm not sure..." He thought a moment. "Before exploding the monitor, the other filled the screen with sixes with two holes left to look like eyes. I think the numbers will be a good place to start." Suoh nodded while Nokoru suppressed a shiver at the memory.  
  
As he headed out the door, Nokoru could only sit with Akira and try not to imagine the worst. _Idomu... What have you gotten trapped in...?_ Nokoru was furious at himself for not pushing to know what was going on. He had heard the oddness in his "voice", the depression. It had been evident that something was _wrong_ from the very first day, but he'd stayed quiet, believed what he was told no matter what his instincts told him. He'd been so happy to hear from him he'd ignored everything. He'd waved cheerfully at the cameras while Idomu was stuck in the dark with a number for a name... _'They'll cut his cables to the outside for this. Leave him in the empty dark for a bit.'_ He could see those cruel words like the sun had burned the image on his eyes, and found himself biting back tears. _Idomu..._  
  


  
"According to this flight manifest he arrived in Kyoto Airport September third, 1995," Suoh said handing him the printouts. "The precise time you said his letters stopped. I searched but found no exiting flight. I looked at the major research facilities of the Yuudaiji group and of course turned up nothing, no employment records for Yuudaiji san, not so much as his name on a visitor's list, but I did some more looking, as this is obviously a clandestine operation." Suoh picked up the remote and turned on the tv to show a grainy surveillance video. "I found a building they owned that, though it looks like an office building, items and people leaving it suggest otherwise. The Imonoyama group and other organizations have agreed that this is mostly likely a hidden R&D lab. While I wasn't able to gain their records, it so happens the owner of a private bank across the street saves his security data obsessively (for legal reasons he says)."  
  
The screen suddenly showed a young man in youthful, western styled clothes, long hair pulled back in a pony tail. Nokoru's heart jumped as he recognized his long distance friend for so long. The last photo he had of him predated even this video by a few years, but Nokoru recognized him immediately. "Upon examining the files from that time I found this, on the very same day of the flight, only an hour after it landed." He restarted the video and Idomu was ushered in to the building by two men that didn't seem interested in Idomu's views on the matter. Once he was in, Suoh continued. "I had the rest of the images examined for his face map and came up with nothing. Either he's still within this building or he teleported out."  
  
Nokoru nodded and inwardly wanted to rewind the video to show Idomu again. He hadn't heard he'd started wearing the many earrings he'd seen and his clothes were more casual than they'd been in the photo, but his worry over rid it (or worsened it). Idomu was in that building. "Akira?" he asked and the quiet man looked up.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Nokoru's eyes narrowed in worry. "I would never ask this of you, Akira. I know how you dislike it, but... I have to ask you to go into that building." He watched the younger man look down to his feet. "The security there will certainly be beyond top notch, and there is no one that I trust more with this; the safety of Idomu san is at stake here and I know you'll..." His voice was beginning to crack as the memory of that coldness returned. _'They'll cut his cables to the outside for this.... Leave him in the empty dark for a bit...'_  
  
The memory was broken as he felt a sudden warmth as Akira laid his hand over Nokoru's lightly. "Don't worry, Rijichou; I know you wouldn't ask me on a whim. I'm honored that you believe in me that much."  
  
Nokoru smiled up at him. "Nonsense. There's no one I trust more with this task. For now, I only need you to do recognizance. See what you can find about what's going on and where he is."  
  
Akira nodded quickly and stood. "I'll begin preparing at once," He said as he began to turn but for a moment his eyes went to Suoh. The ninja was quite rigidly looking out the window. A pained expression touched his eyes, but he headed out quickly.  
  
"Thank you," Nokoru said as the door closed behind him. Nokoru had discovered Akira's "night job" many years ago, but Suoh had only learned a couple years ago. It had caused a great deal of tension. In Suoh's odd mind, stealing, cheating, even killing were completely excusable, even honorable and grand if done in service, but to do it for trinkets and possessions was filthy and petty. When Suoh had discovered it, it had erupted in the only screaming match that he had ever seen Suoh take part in, though "match" was a bad term. Suoh had ranted, utterly furious and feeling deeply betrayed, saying some truly vicious things to the young treasurer, while the sensitive Akira had simply broken down in tears. It had all gone bad so quickly that Nokoru hadn't stopped Suoh till the damage had been done and by the time he had ordered Suoh silent, the ninja had already stopped, stunned at the sight.  
  
It had taken some time, but gradually Suoh had been able to mostly cope with it. Akira's openness and sweetness made it hard to hate him, and perhaps, (Nokoru thought in retrospect) it was that very sweetness that had enraged Suoh so badly. That someone so trusted, so good and kind could commit such dishonorable acts on a regular basis had been impossible to reconcile for him. Even now, Suoh had trouble with it, though Akira had quit utterly after the debacle. "Suoh..." He simply hadn't been wired to be forgiving and adaptable, though Nokoru liked to think he had done well to install some new circuit paths. "It hurts him when you behave like that."  
  
Suoh nodded and stepped closer. "My apologies."  
  
Nokoru rolled his blue eyes. "Don't apologize to me, and don't be nice to him because _I_ want you to be. He loves you dearly, you're one of his closest friends."  
  
Again he nodded as he took the chair that Akira had just been in. "I know."  
  
With a laugh at Suoh's stubbornness, Nokoru reached up and patted his head. "You're such a strange, little man." A confused look was all he got in response.  
  


  
The ducts were dusty and Akira had to fight not to sneeze as he moved along. He couldn't help but think how much easier this would be if he was a small child, but this sadly wasn't a fairy tale where he could transform. In a fairy tale everything would be fine in the end, and the prisoner locked in the dark tower would be easy to free. Though, he realized, in a fairy tale it would be the princess trapped in here, and as much as he worried for Yuudaiji san, Akira was glad that Utako san wasn't the one in here.  
  
The security gave him the impression that breaking into the Louve would be easier, but he thought he'd be fine. Delicate movements and graceful jumps carried him through down to the lowest sub-basements. At least he hoped he was in the lowest ones; it was becoming ridiculous really. Every time he went down he found yet another floor below him. So far he was in the seventh sub-basement, though the thirty or so feet between sub-b three and four plus the insane jump in security made it seem that he had found what he was looking for. Lab after lab was filled with odd experiments: from the expected electronic tests, to disturbing animal testing involving hundreds of wires coming from under their skin. He had to quietly wipe away tears at the sight of it and was fairly certain he'd have nightmares for some time.  
  
Moving from the sad sight, he eventually slid down to level eight. A lifetime of thieving announced that this was his goal. Cameras, motion, and heat detectors made moving an inch an hour job, but slowly he explored the final level. Not filled with labs, it instead had a large room with couches and tables, while other areas were small apartments. A few people were casually talking in the community room while occasionally he found someone tucked away in their own rooms. The elevator to the higher levels was guarded by two armed guards, making it clear that the workers of this level were "encouraged" to remain. Carefully, Akira moved from apartment to apartment, searching for some sign of Yuudaiji or even the number 642. Every so often he would find a folder or computer file mentioning 642 (even two of the people in the common room had been speaking of it) but as best as Akira could tell 642 was the name of a project, not an employee. Files spoke about circuitry compatibility issues, and the workers had been discussing system settings and a new type of cables. Perhaps Yuudaiji was called 642 because he headed that project.  
  
Akira had also found mention of a project 666 (and tons of files on projects 001 through the rest, but he gathered that only those two were active as of now. (What files he did examine listed hardware or core failure, or ghost incompatibility as the reason for project termination.) Finding nothing in the personal areas, Akira moved onto the labs. He found only six, though each were massive. The first two he went over were long empty, covered in dust and the numbers 591 on one door and 617 on another. In 617 a large mass was covered with tarps while unattached wires hung from the ceilings with blank monitors watching blindly. Akira left them for the others.  
  
The next room he moved over was definitely occupied. Not only could he see the flicker of monitors and the movement of people (although silent) but also the air coming up from the vent was decidedly cold. Logically the air vent he traveled in should be delivering the cold air to the room but here it felt like he was passing over a tomb... or a lair. Though he knew he was letting his nerves get to him, he suddenly felt very frightened as the cold seemed to reach out and wrap around his hands, arms and legs. Even more disturbing, he could almost swear he could hear some great monster breathing, not asleep but waiting patiently, like a trapdoor spider quietly listening for some poor creature to wander by. Having trouble controling his breathing as terror set in, Akira quickly moved on.  
  
The next room was normal again and as Akira let out a careful sigh of relief, he saw that the reversed numbers on the glass of this door read 642. Letting out a mental cheer, he quickly looked about for Yuudaiji. Carefully positioning himself over the vents he was disappointed to find so sign of Yuudiaji. This room utterly missing the terrifying cold, so Akira was able to examine the room well and found that the wide-open space that had sat in the empty room was filled with a massive machine of some sort (no doubt what had been under the tarp). Sleet and curved, encased in slick black plastic, the device had many thick cables leaving it to trail across the floor or up to the ceiling, looking like the tentacles of some futuristic octopus. The workers moved about, discussing this and that, though the tone was decidedly unhappy. "This isn't fair. We were directed to open it up to the building network, and now the managers are angry because it got out to the web. We warned them it would!"  
  
"Yes but prolonged standum has been shown to lead to ghost failure without fail. Its an inherent risk of the technology," an older woman replied, but the first man looked less than convinced.  
  
"Well," interjected another worker before the first could reply. "I've got another fine example why execs shouldn't be reading code like they understand it." This third man had a heavy American accent. "The program it was working on that they were flipping out over, was just an advanced voice synthesizer set up, not exactly capable of bringing down our network."  
  
They mumbled something about how ridiculous that was and made a few disparaging remarks about their superiors before the older woman spoke up again. "This ordered standum couldn't have come at a worse time, what with the new cables we're in the process of adding. We need to access 642 to test them."  
  
"Cables? I'm more worried about taking a hammer because this stupid thing can't stay in its play pen," commented the second speaker.  
  
"I've been on this project since the beginning; ghost disruptions are taken as a given. Though the breach of it reaching outside is serious, the worst that will occur is that 642 will be terminated and we'll be placed on a new number. I hear team 681 is ready to begin casing construction for the new core, so we'd have some down time."  
  
"I would say a bit more than some, Project Manager," another speaker said quietly. "With both 591 and 617 going down within months of each other, a new core won't be ready for us for at least a year or more."  
  
The angry man sighed loudly, but the manager replied calmly. "We will be busy enough laying out the new casing, with the data we've gained from all of the projects that followed us. As well as this core has functioned and lasted, the technology of the case is extremely outdated compared to the new casings. We had been seeking clearance for a core transfer into a new case but with this problem I doubt they'll approve it."  
  
"I'm done with the block, manager," said a quiet person that Akira had yet to hear speak. He removed a small box from a station he had been working on.  
  
The manager stepped over and took it, looking it over. "Kita? Are you ready to add this to its main output?"  
  
She said she was and took it over to the black machine. Kneeling down, she began to open the panel. "Do you have the warnings set to alert us if it gets past the fire wall?"  
  
"Of course I do," the angry man said quickly.  
  
"Okay, just checking." Her voice strained a minute as he yanked the panel free and reached in to one of the cables. Leading into the cable were hundreds of small wires, looking like a web of strands draped across the core of the great machine. It was the core that made Akira nearly cry out and reveal himself. Holding back tears by a force of will he didn't know he had, Akira looked over the room again, committing it to memory before he scrambled to the outside and the waiting rijichou.  
  


  
To say that Akira was distressed was a bit of an understatement. He was extremely shaken and they tried their best to calm him. After a cup of tea and a warm blanket (as he kept saying he was cold) he eventually was able to speak. This was good because Nokoru was near a heart attack out of fear for Idomu. "The project is called Avatar. The numbers were in reference to the individual versions of these massive super computers they were building, not employee numbers. I found the room for 642 and I was looking for Yuudaiji san," his voice hitched a bit. "but I didn't see him. The workers there were talking about how they were all in trouble because the ghost was being disruptive and the case was outdated and they were gonna have to terminate the project and start over, but it would take a year to get a new core because two other sub-projects had just went down," he was rambling, talking so quickly it was hard for them to keep up, but there was no quieting him now that he'd started. "I had looked through the apartments for him down there but I couldn't find him and they were so angry about it getting out into the web and that thing was in the room next door and it was so cold and dark, I could feel it reaching out for me, a-and they were talking about cables and a firewall and leaving the core in standum and this one lady opened the big, black case and there were all these wires and tubes and... and..." Nokoru climbed from his bed and grasped the thief's' hands in his, terrified by what was coming next. "...and he was _inside_ it." He had started crying but kept talking as if he hadn't noticed. "Yuudaiji san, he was inside it, he was 642, the _thing_ they were all so angry at. They're making computers with people in them and they don't care! They had all these wires in him, in his skin and... and..." Suoh had taken over comforting Akira as Nokoru drifted back to his bed, staring numbly into space as every conversation they'd had over the computer drifted past his eyes. "They were talking about ghost failure being a given and they had to test some new kind of wires they'd put into him and they were going over everything he'd been doing and some program he'd been working on because they thought it was a virus but they said it was just a voice synthesis program and-" but past that Nokoru heard nothing.  
  
His will power snapped like a tightly pulled violin string and he broke down. _"But we could hear each other over a phone, though certainly you could allow us to speak over this to each other."  
  
"I've been working on that actually. It still needs a lot of work, so I'm not saying it'll happen tomorow, but with hope I'll have it in maybe a month."_  
  
_...he was trying to talk to me. In that hell... he was just trying make a voice that I could hear..._  
  



	3. Reunifications

  
Thanks to my reviewers, Syaoran-lover and Elihice. Thanks hugely for your flattery and yes it does work.  
  
Author's Note: This has shonnen ai so if you have problems with that... what the hell are you doing reading Clamp anyway? giggles   
  


Chapter 3  
Reunification

  
  
To steal something as massive as one of these "avatars", the hardware that encased Idomu like some sort of a modern sarcophagus, was no easy task. By Akira's descriptions it would be dangerous, perhaps fatal to simply disconnect him. Akira had seen no jacks or plugs on the wires to suggest that removing him from the system was possible. The mention of "new wires" was encouraging. If these were the connection wires that were embedded into his body, it meant that they could be removed.  
  
By the files Akira had found and photographed, the avatar that Idomu was inside weighted almost a ton and a half. As helpful as that knowledge was, unfortunately the information he had gotten was all on the stats of the device and its hook ups to the outside and gave no worthwhile descriptions of the internals. What it did tell them was that the avatar was self-sustaining for the most part. Save electricity and a weekly inserted cocktail of nutrients, the life-support systems for the "core" were all built in and a back up power supply could keep it all running for a week if placed on minimal usage. After all, what the point of building such an expensive "device" if a simple power outage could kill it?  
  
Also installed on the device were wheels on the underside for moving it. According to the files, a leaver on the one side needed to be dropped and the wheels would come up. The newer avatars were fully mobile with advanced hover capabilities, but Idomu's was built before that was added. A shame, but they could get around it. Akira assured them that he had "retrieved" items larger, though the insane level of security was a difficulty.  
  
Only one elevator and one flight of stairs led to the lower levels. The stairs had alarms all over them and the elevator was watched by two armed guards. The stairs would be far easier, but due to the size of the avatar it wasn't a possibility. Smuggling it out in smaller pieces also wasn't an option for fear of wounding or killing Idomu within. Akira's solution: "We can't remove it, so we'll let them do it for us."  
  


--

  
The two of them moved through the passage that Akira had chartered, with the thief taking the head, Suoh at the back. On Suoh's collar was a small pin camera, sending back a steady feed to a very nervous Nokoru. He'd first been dead set to come with them, saying that he _had_ to see him, to tell him he was there and everything would fine. _He had to!_ Though, in the end, reason had won through his pain and he'd seen the liability he'd be in there. With the camera and earpiece in Suoh's ear, he could help mentally without risking a mistake from his clumsy hands. Watching the screen with unblinking eyes, Nokoru nervously opened and closed his fan while they moved through the ducts carefully.  
  
Nokoru watched Akira turn back to Suoh and touch his arm, in what could only be taken as comforting or reassuring, and then held a finger to his lips before continuing on. Though he couldn't see it, he was sure that Suoh's expression was one of confusion, but Nokoru wasn't left guessing at the reason for long. Suddenly Suoh stopped for a moment and then continued, though the tremor in his movements was unmistakable. They passed over a vent very cautiously and below Nokoru could only see darkness but he recognized the seeping cold that spread from the monitor. The other one was below them and Nokoru shivered in his seat, thankful when they moved past it. It wasn't much further before they dropped through another vent.  
  
He'd seen pictures from Akira, but the video made it even more real and as the black case came into view, Idomu's living tomb, he had to stifle a sob. Quickly Suoh went to a terminal and found the program used to speak with Idomu. "Idomu?"  
  
The screen replied cautiously. "Who's there?"  
  
"Takamura, and Ijyuin san is here as well. Nokoru sent us for you; he's watching us by video." He paused a moment as Nokoru spoke quickly into the mike.  
  
"Tell him I would be there, I wanted to be there- Tell him we're going to have him safely out of there. T-"  
  
"Yes," he responded, stopping his rambling and typed. "Nokoru wants you know that we're going to have you safely out of here."  
  
The screen lit up with text before Suoh could get much relayed. "You have to leave NOW! I didn't want him to know, I didn't want him involved in this. You can't do anything for me, please just leave."  
  
Suoh obediently relayed Nokoru's response. "From Nokoru: I can't leave you in this nightmare. We're getting you out. Don't worry."  
  
"There's nothing you can do for me, get them out of here. I'll be alright. Thank you for worrying but there's nothing to be done."  
  
"You won't be alright," Suoh replied for him quickly. "They're planning on killing you and starting over with someone else."  
  
There was a pause but not very long. "I suspected that; I didn't know that you knew of it." The next line came up before Suoh could type. "There's nothing to be done for it. Risking Takamura san and Ijyuin san will solve nothing.  
  
"Will solve nothing? You're going to be killed, Idomu san. I won't stand by and let that happen. You're my friend." He was thankful that Idomu san couldn't hear his voice break a little at that.  
  
Apparently frustrated at Nokoru's obstinacy, he decided to switch tactics. "Takamura san, surely you see the futility in this, the worthlessness of this action?"  
  
"The rijichou wants for your safety."  
  
"He can want for it all he wants, but its not going to happen. What if this goes wrong, what if you and Ijyuin are caught? You're both here, what will become of Nokoru if you're both lost, who will protect him?" Nokoru was talking to Suoh throughout this, demanding he ignore the statements, but he knew the logic was sound and was the perfect argument to use against Suoh. "Don't let him endanger himself for someone crippled up in a box. There's nothing here to save. You have to have priorities now; he's not thinking clearly."  
  
Nokoru could feel tears on his cheeks as he continued to beg Suoh not to listen, but Suoh was silent. It was working, he was seeing Idomu's logic and in the end, he knew cold logic would always hold more power than emotion ever could. Unwilling to let anything endanger Idomu he crossed a line he'd always sworn never to cross. "Suoh, I order you to comply with my orders. MY state of mind isn't your concern, you are bound to obey me!!"  
  
Suoh, visible to him by the reflection of the screen, dipped his head and reached up to press the microphones to his throat. "My apologies, Rijichou." The shamed sound in his voice, to have been considering disobeying his lord, was painful to Nokoru.  
  
Takamura sempai, what is wrong?" Akira asked, coming back from the preparations he'd been working diligently on.  
  
"Nothing, a slight delay due to my foolishness. Go back to your work, we'll be ready shortly."  
  
Nokoru sighed with relief but inwardly feared the results of playing that card. _No matter._ he told himself. As much as he needed Suoh's friendship, Idomu's life took precedence. He just prayed that he hadn't just destroyed that treasured friendship. He had always strove to pull Suoh away from the traditional notion that he was the possession of his master, and in one moment he had brought it back to ground zero.  
  
"I'm sorry Yuudaiji san, I must obey my orders. You can either aid us, or hinder us."  
  
The screen was blank for a moment before he answered. "Very well, what do you need of me?" With that conceding statement, Suoh relayed Akira's and Nokoru's plan.  
  
According to the papers Akira had seen, the remains of Avatar 619 was being removed today in approximately six hours. Because it had failed due to massive hardware failure, and not due to its ghost, it was being taken to another dept. for study: high above to the fourth sub level.  
  
The only distinguishing feature between Idomu and 619 was the number and workmen wouldn't be looking too closely anyway. They would simply move Idomu so that he was in 619's lab and place the shell of 619 in place of Idomu. That would get them part of the way. "It won't work," replied Idomu's text.  
  
"Ijyuin san says it will, and this is his area of expertise,"  
  
"It won't work," his text stated. "Even if you could avoid the cameras and the guards and the alarms, there's still 666 in the next room." Another line came up before Suoh could reply. "It's probably watching us now, you have to leave now."  
  
"That's not an option," Suoh answered quickly, automatically.  
  
"You don't understand, it's... dangerous. It electrocuted a researcher a couple months ago. It's insane," Idomu typed and then paused.  
  
Suoh didn't bother to approach that and instead went to business. "How do we disconnect you safely?"  
  
Again the screen sat blank but in the end answered, detailing the procedure and at the end, before the connections were pulled he typed, "Nokoru, please call them back. I'm touched that you're willing to risk so much, but this is a lost cause. Please. They might still get out of here."  
  
"Tell him it'll be alright and I'll see him when he reaches Clamp," Nokoru said and watched as Suoh relayed the message and signaled Akira to cut the lines.  
  


--

  
Moving Idomu and the dead husk of 619 was slow and delicate work but in the end they managed it and exchanged the numbers. That done they made their way to the fourth level. Though they had the chilled feeling that 666 had taken notice of them, they were able to enact the first stage without interruption. Tucked in a vent, the two sat and waited for Idomu's arrival.  
  
The cramped quarters were all the more unpleasant by the tensions between the once dear friends. "Suoh...?" Akira asked softly. Suoh's only response was to fix him with that hard, cold gaze that seemed to pierce him, as if to peel back the layers and expose him. He felt transparent when he did that, with all his sins laid out for the ninja. He curled up on himself, recoiling from Suoh a moment. "I'm sorry... I won't bother you..."  
  
Looking down at his hands, he didn't see Souh's face fall. "What did you want Ijyuin san?"  
  
The younger thief shook his head, never looking up. "No, it's nothing. I didn't mean to bother you."  
  
Suoh sighed. "Ijyuin san..." he started but Akira shook his head again, pulling tighter in on himself.  
  
"No, it's alright. Rijichou isn't here. I'm glad you keep the peace when he's around; it was hurting him badly when we fought in front of him." His light voice cracked a bit and he kept his face hidden. "I shouldn't want for more."  
  
He was like that when he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder. "_We_ didn't fight; _I_ shouted while _you_ apologized. Fights are two sided things."  
  
Akira nodded, but again begged, "I'm sorry, sempai."  
  
"Stop it, Ijyuin," he said harshly, causing Akira to duck down tighter. "You've begged my forgiveness everyday since I found out, even if you weren't saying it, it was in your eyes. I heard you every time you looked at me, and yet I've never granted it to you. Why do you keep trying?" he said with an exasperated tone that made Akira's heart ache.  
  
"I..." It was relatively safe to talk, but Akira had to fight hard not to come undone. "I'm sorry, it's just that- that you still mean so much to me. You were my friend for so long, and I keep stupidly trying to get that back, even though I ruined it. E-Even if I'll never be your friend again, you'll always be mine...," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I'm not a better person to be worthy of the friendship I stole from you all those years. I-" he started weakly but a hand on his shoulder again stopped him.  
  
"I said _stop_ Ijyuin... You... You didn't steal my friendship. You've begged me to forgive you for years now, more times than you should have had to... You've done everything in your power to redeem yourself and- and I've never accepted you back." He paused for a moment, straining against himself. "I should be begging _your_ forgiveness, so please stop asking for mine."  
  
Akira suddenly looked up see the pained expression on Suoh's down turned face. "Takamura Sempai?" It had never occurred to him that his sempai was hurting over this, too.  
  
"I... I _do_ try, I just..." He shook his head. "The fault in this is mine. I was justified to be upset before, but not to be as cruel as I was and not to carry it this long. I'm deeply sorry for the hurtful things I said that day, and for holding onto my outrage so long." He turned his brown eyes up at him a moment and for the first time in so long, Akira didn't see disgust, or anger, or icy cold judgment; he instead saw a lot of sorrow and pain.  
  
Akira took the hand that gripped his shoulder and held it tightly. "It's alright. I shouldn't lied to you for so long. I deserved-"  
  
"Of course you didn't," Suoh snapped, but now Akira knew his anger wasn't directed at him. "You've always been a true friend. You've stopped stealing even though I know it has caused tensions with your family, and you've countlessly given your apologies. You've sacrificed some of the closeness you had to your family for the sake of my friendship. No one could ask for you to do more." He took Akira's hands and laid his other over them. "I'm sorry, Ijyuin san, truly I am."  
  
Akira's vision was blurring a bit as he reached out and hugged the rather unhuggable ninja. "Don't be upset, I forgive you. I could never stay mad at you... you're my friend."  
  
Suoh held him as well, patting his sensitive kohai's back. "Thank you. You're my friend, too. I'm sorry I made you feel otherwise. I... I forgave you a long time ago, I just hadn't forgiven myself for forgiving you... If that makes any since at all," he said with a sigh.  
  
Akira smiled happily through his tears. "No, but that's okay. So long as you've forgiven both of us, now." He didn't want Suoh to dislike himself.  
  
Suoh smiled weakly and nodded. "I think I'm getting there."  
  
Akira tipped his head and gave Suoh a rare serious look through a softened smile. "I guess that's a good step, though I won't be happy till you all the way there," he said with a pat on his shoulder.  
  
Suoh chuckled a bit and nodded. Content that most of the disaster had been resolved, they lapsed in the first comfortable silent they'd shared in years.  
  


--

  
Eventually Idomu was wheeled into the room below them and it was time to bring in the next level of the plan. So far so good. It was early morning now and the technicians had yet to arrive, so they quickly jumped down and Suoh reengaged the wheels while Akira checked the hallway. Carefully they moved him to another room down the hall, a room filled with boxes. This was a series of machinery meant to be shipped off to other facilities that thankfully was large and numerous. Quickly and silently they looked through the crate pieces and drug over the ones big enough to encase Idomu's living tomb. It was a challenge getting it into the bottom but they somehow got him sealed just before the crew arrived to remove them. The delivery slip on its side sent it on the truck at the back that they had already paid off.  
  
From the vent above they watched Idomu be carried off on a pallet lift. Once he was long gone, they began to make their way to the first floor, where they slipped outside before the technicians sounded the alert that inexplicitly an entire avatar had vanished.  
  


--

  
Nokoru was so focused on the box being unloaded from the supply truck, bringing in "decorations for another party", he didn't see his two friends coming up. He was ringing his hands, jumping every time they jostled him. "Be careful! H- it's fragile! I've told you its fragile!" he shouted as he jumped forward again. The workers were visibly startled to hear Nokoru angry and Suoh stepped forward and pulled him back. "Wha-! Suoh?!"  
  
"Yes we're back. Please calm yourself Rijichou."  
  
He looked about to argue, pointing open mouthed at the work being done, but Akira interjected his time. "They're being as careful as they can." Suoh waved them to continue as Akira drew him back more. "It's okay... I don't... I don't think he can feel it anyway..." Nokoru looked near tears at that, so Akira followed it up quickly. "They're being very gentle with him. It's okay. He's going to be okay; he's safe now."  
  
Nokoru steadied himself and took a deep breath. The strain of this all had been horrible on him, and his will was near breaking. As he walked with Akira and Suoh into the lab that had been set up for him, he watched the harried workers pulled the pallet lift out. "My apologies for my behavior," he said to them as they left. "It was undeserved." They bowed back and left.  
  
Once the doors were closed Suoh and Akira began to pull down the wooden crate to expose the avatar to Nokoru. Though he'd seen the pictures of it was different to reach out and touch the plastic shell that held his dear friend prisoner. "Idomu..." he whispered against the shell and stepped back. "Do we have all the necessary connections?" he asked his two companions. There was a team waiting to assist, but Nokoru wanted a moment in privacy before they were brought in. Idomu had been poked and prodded enough.  
  
When the connections were hooked up, the power was turned on. Idomu had been at his minimal power usage so no one would notice he was active and if something went wrong he could survive for almost a week. As such it took a moment for his power to come fully back online. They had to type into the program to get him to respond. "Hello, Idomu," Nokoru typed.  
  
A tentative, "Whose there" came back to him.  
  
"It's Nokoru. You're safe at Clamp. It worked."  
  
His reply was to suddenly barrage the systems with his data, exploring everything he could reach, turning the cameras to look around the room. "Nokoru?" came the text finally. "It worked?"  
  
With a wide smile Nokoru flipped the switch on a microphone. "Can you hear me?"  
  
There was a pause and the screen replied. "Yes. Yes I can." Again there was a pause and from the speakers came a voice that Nokoru hadn't heard in years... thought he would never hear again. "Thank you... Nokoru."  
  
Nokoru walked back to the black case and laid his hands on it. "You're safe now..." he muttered as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against him.  
  



	4. Imperfection

  
  
Author's notes, thanks tons to all my reviewers in and skyhawke. You guys rock. Thanks a ton. -huggles- I really wasn't sure if this fic would go, so I'm thrilled to see people liked it. Thanks again.   
-Insert blow off to anti-shonen-ai people here-  
  


Chapter 4  
Imperfection

  
  
They spent the next few weeks shut up in the spacious lab, which barely looked like a lab. It had once been a solarium and the tall windows looked out onto a private garden. It was bright and sunny and open, a far cry from the darkness he'd been trapped in for so long. Nokoru never left his side after having a cot brought into the room even as Idomu repeatedly told him that he could "follow" him anywhere. With the nightmarish loneliness of Idomu's life these past two years, Nokoru was devoted to lavish attention on him.  
  
Fear of the Yuudaiji group trying to reclaim him was small. For one, the solarium was guarded at all times, not to mention that Idomu was aware of everything that passed a camera in Clamp. Also, Nokoru had more than ample amount of evidence to expose the disgusting scheme and it was under that threat the Yuudaiji had halted their developments. All the Zaibatsu had to call on for profits was the unexpected sale of the malevolent 666 to an odd organization. Whatever they planned in using it for, Idomu voiced certainty that it would end up killing many more victims.   
  
"It was already mad when it arrived," he'd explained one evening. "666 was insane before the 'preparation' for the avatar project, too. Once it told me about how it used to skin neighborhood cats to see how they worked and how a few children had turned up 'missing'... back in its life as flesh, as it put it. The other avatars, they called themselves by their names when we were able to speak to each other. 618 was Jinsei Baiki, a girl from a little south of Aomori... she used to work in a super market but her parents lost her to my family because of debts... She tried so hard to survive; she was obedient, never a bother for them... 627 was from Kyoto, his name was Baito... he was a street performer. He had a small dog he was always worried about... This all we did, talk about who we were, remind ourselves that we were still human... but not 666.   
  
"It was 666, nothing else. It's 'flesh life' was like a fairy tale or someone recounting an odd dream." He paused and Nokoru brushed a hand across the smooth plastic from the cushioned sofa that Nokoru had placed against him. While he couldn't feel the touch, Nokoru knew he could see it, and the slow of his pulse on the monitors told Nokoru it was taken as it was meant.   
  
Nokoru had grown attuned to the rhythm of the equipment and sensors so that it was like expressions. He knew what it meant when it sped for a moment and his breath fought the tubes, he was upset, or slowed over all: he was relaxed, eased. When his breathing hitched while his pulse was steady it was a laugh, but when his pulse raced and his breathing stilled against the respirator... Nokoru could hardly miss that it usually accompanied his touching the case lightly or saying something or doing something that was in the more... intimate aspect. It was the times he heard that flutter and strain that Nokoru couldn't help but be frustrated with the plastic between them.   
  
He wanted to _see_ Idomu and his true expressions. He wanted to see if he reciprocated his touch... If he looked at him the way his imagination was painting it. While he wondered and weighed, he was still fairly certain that Idomu was happy to have him near. Whether as friend or more, Nokoru's proximity seemed to calm him and Nokoru's bed on the side of the room had sat unused for nights, as he slept against Idomu's case on the half sofa.   
  
After these weeks of rest, Nokoru managed to convince Idomu to let the scientists and doctors look at him and try to reverse what had been done. He was adamant that it was a lost cause but he submitted at Nokoru's pleads. "Alright Nokoru. I'll let them look, but one condition."   
  
So happy to hear this he agreed fast. "Yes, yes, anything!" he cried patting the case eagerly.   
  
"I don't want you to be in the room when they open the case," he said in a soft tone.   
  
Nokoru's face fell immediately. "Idomu..."   
  
"Please... I am aware of the effect of the 'adjustments' that were done to me and the enclosing of my body for so long. I've seen glimpses of myself in the cameras when they made alterations... I don't want you here for that."   
  
Nokoru leaned against the case gently and closed his eyes. "Idomu, Akira took pictures of the side of the case opened and I can imagine it also. I still want to see you."   
  
"No," he said flatly. "A picture snapped quickly from a vent isn't the same as seeing it with your own eyes. I... I don't want to you to see this. Take your memories of me from before and don't ruin them with what's left of me."   
  
Nokoru sighed at the plaintiff sound in his voice. "I know what's 'left of you'. I speak to it every day. It is the same person I spoke to on the computer, the same person I exchanged letters with all those years, the same person that I climbed trees with... _You_ are still yourself. No injuries you've suffered will change that or make me turn from you..." He took a breath and wanted so desperately to curl against him and hated fiercely that he had to be content with this hard unyielding plastic. "I want to see you... feel your warmth rather than his lifeless case."   
  
No reply came and Nokoru was half tempted to pry open the side panel himself and grasp the still hand of the once pianist. "Please, Idomu..."   
  
"You don't want to see this."   
  
"There's nothing else I want more than to have you healthy and free of this thing forever... and neither of those goals can be met if you hide from me."   
  
The pause was longer still until the mimic of a sigh was sounded over the speakers while Nokoru could hear the soft protest of the respirator as he actually sighed within. "Very well as you wish... but," but whatever comment he might have made to discourage him were lost and Nokoru cheered loudly, and hugged the case suddenly.   
  
He pulled back quickly a bit red in the face, even though he'd been sleeping against him with only a foot or more separated him from his physical body. He also could hear the fait beep of the equipment accelerate which Nokoru hoped to be a good sign.   
  


---

  
"Queen's knight to D3," Idomu said and as he watched Nokoru move the piece the doors opened to reveal the scientists and doctors right on time. Happy though he was, Nokoru had trouble containing his nerves. He tried to hope against Idomu's certainty that his condition was hopeless, bur the truth wouldn't be known till the case was removed and they got to see what the Yuudaiji group had done to their disobedient heir.   
  
Piece by piece the shell was pulled back, screws and fasteners lessened and removed, until they pulled up the main over-head piece. Nokoru had long since steeled himself not to gasp or cry out but the pale, thin shadow of the once beautiful man was painful. Wires and cables were stuck into him in the most painful looking manner. The thick tube that ran down his throat was in place for feeding for while another was directly in his neck for ventilation. One of the nurses in attendance was fast to cover him where discretion demanded due to Nokoru's presence and the blonde could only watch quietly as they busied themselves.   
  
As they worked, carefully examining the connections and mechanisms, Nokoru saw an opening and quietly slipped up to him. His eyes were covered by a black strip and wires were stuck into his skull at many points. Wiping a couple involuntary tears away he reached down and touched his bare shoulder lightly (as it was more free of wiring). As he drew his fingertips across the near transparent skin, bones distinctly felt, a stuttered breath fought the respirator. "Idomu? Could you feel that?"   
  
"...yes.... Touch... touch was too complex a sense for them to use it, so it was left... New models had their touch taken too, but hey hadn't developed it when I was brought in... They were planning on transferring me to a new case, an upgrade... so to speak."   
  
The doctors around them began to whisper amongst themselves and altered their plans, as they had taken no consideration as to pain management. Nokoru was barely aware they were there, though. "Does it hurt any?"   
  
"The wires? Not really. The new ones are still healing some, but it's not a problem."   
  
Nokoru shook his head and looked up the staff. "Get him some pain killers," he asked but Idomu spoke up.   
  
"No, that's alright. It's a faint ache and I don't want to be numbed." Nokoru was about to argue but Idomu beat him. "Please, Nokoru. It's not much but I can _feel_ it. I don't want anything, even pain taken away. It's alright."   
  
Nokoru nodded and replaced his hand on Idomu's frighteningly thin shoulder, hoping to lend some comfort.   
  


---

  
Later that evening, after the team had left with their data, Nokoru sat next to Idomu. The case had been left open and he'd raised the sofa to be level with him. Sitting in mostly silence, they were both exhausted from the day's stress and seemed content to just be with each other. His frail body was covered with a sheet making it almost look like he was sleeping. Almost.   
  
Nokoru held a skeletal hand in his lap and gently stroked the thin skin, careful to avoid the wires. Glancing over at his face, Nokoru almost cried at the black strip over his eyes... or rather where his eyes would have been. The brilliant, piecing, green eyes that he'd seen so often in his daydreams were long gone, removed for the wires that translated that sense into a digital one. While he could "see" code and computing processes in a wholly new way, he was blind to the real world save translated images of cameras. Holding back tears he didn't want Idomu to see, Nokoru brought Idomu's hand up to his face and ran it across his cheek.   
  
"I want you to go back to your home and rest in your own bed tonight," Idomu said suddenly. Before Nokoru to react he continued. "You've been wonderful, and kind, and... and you need to breathe. Go out in the real world again, this isn't good for you..."   
  
Before he was done, Nokoru was already shaking his head violently. "No, Idomu, I don't want to leave. I'm happier here."   
  
"You look horrible; exhausted, depressed, about to break down into tears every time you look at me... I don't blame you. You've a warm heart and take other's suffering on yourself. Being with me is harming you."   
  
Again Nokoru shook his head. "I'll admit that I'm not all smiles but I'm still happier here than I'd be if I went home." Idomu sighed but Nokoru kept going. "Truly. I... I think I'm more content now than I was before I knew what was really happening... It sounds horrible, but... you're here... I missed you; I don't want to leave," he said, half pleading. He ran the hand over his cheek again before he leaned down to lay his head on his chest. (Thankfully the sofa was on Idomu's right so the wires into his heart were on the other side.)   
  
As he reached up to run his fingers along the bare skin around his neck Idomu sighed against the respirator. "I..."   
  
Nokoru was tired of listening to him wrestle with it and he lifted his head, looking at the air tube in his throat. "Can I remove the ventilator tube? You seem to be able to breathe fine."   
  
"We can try. It's been over a year since I breathed on my own, so I can't be sure."   
  
With a nod, Nokoru leaned over him to carefully grasp the plastic fastener when Idomu's chest suddenly shuddered and his breathing hitched. "What?! What's wrong?" he asked alarmed.   
  
Idomu's voice over the speakers replicated a soft chuckle. "Your hair, it was tickling me."   
  
Nokoru sighed and felt a blush creep up as he pushed his hair behind his ears. His overreaction aside, he began to unhook the breathing tube. Once it was gone there was long pause before Idomu drew a deep breath. At first the rhythm was labored and uneven but gradually it settled into a comfortable pattern. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, bracing himself so he hung over him watching his chest rise and fall.   
  
"Yes, I think so. Though I may get tired in a bit. My muscles aren't used to having to do this themselves."   
  
As his breathing steadied, Nokoru reclaimed the frail hand. He looked down at the pale, limp digits and tried to keep his face impassive. _"What else do you do, have they brought you your piano?"_... _I never got to see him play. I was always too busy, always had something more important to do. For all those years..._ but he shook himself at that. The specialists would disconnect him from this and he would play again; he'd have the rest of their lives to sit and watch him play.   
  
I would work. They had replaced the connection cables once so that meant that they were removable... It would work.   
  
Idly he brought up his hand to his cheek again.   
  
He sighed in both breath and simulated sound. "You have no idea how frustrating this is..." Nokoru raised his head from having let it droop against his hand. "..to have you holding my hand like that."   
  
Nokoru blinked. "Oh, oh I'm sorry. I..." he stammered, as he started to lay it back down.   
  
"No, don't. I didn't mean to stop, I..." Idomu let out another sigh. "I just would like... to hold yours back. I want to touch you back and I can't. You look so sad..." Again he sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm sure anyone could do a better job of this than me. I'm just not good with people and things. I-" he was cut off as Nokoru suddenly laid his head on Idomu's chest, laying his arm across his chest though careful to not lay too much weight in his thin chest and to keep clear of an wires or tubes. He drew his arm around his neck and let out a sigh of his own.   
  
Idomu was silent for a moment as Nokoru laid curled against him. "I love you. So much... I... Thank you. I never thought I'd be able to feel you against me. Even before the avatar-"   
  
He was stopped as Nokoru kissed his neck softly, letting a few unrestrained tears run down his shoulder. "I love you, too. I was heartbroken when your letters stopped. I should have gone to you in Europe years ago, or demanded you come back to Japan." He nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck as he continued. "But you're here now, where I can touch you and hear your breath. Even if you can't hold me back yet, we're together. I won't let you go."   
  
"...Thank you."   
  


---

  
The staff found them like that the next morning, with several pillows wedged between the avatar and the sofa to let Nokoru sleep against him. At first Nokoru was embarrassed and tried to find something to say, but Idomu cut him off. "Do you need something?" he said harshly to the doctors that were staring a bit too much. They quickly muttered apologies and went about their work.   
  
Nokoru shook his head at him in admonishment as he climbed down to let the doctors do their work. A few more days passed like that until something came up that Nokoru couldn't be excused from and he had to leave the solarium.   
  
An affair had to be handled and as no one had seen him since Idomu was brought there, he had it make an appearance. Idomu had sent him off with an exasperated sigh and orders to go have a good time. It was about an hour before people would begin arriving when he stepped up with Suoh on the balcony.   
  
"Suoh...?" The bodyguard only looked back at him and raised an eyebrow in response. "I just want to say, I'm deeply sorry. I wish it hadn't come to that..."   
  
As he stared at his shoes, ashamed that it had taken that at long to apologize to his dear friend, Suoh bowled him over with his casual response. "For what?"   
  
"For ordering you to do as I said back when you were getting Idomu. It was inexcusable, I was just... I'm so sorry."   
  
Suoh shook his head. "Rijichou you did nothing wrong, the fault was mine. I let my emotions cloud my judgment."   
  
"No!" he said quickly but was careful to keep his voice down so as to not draw attention. "You're not my servant you're my friend. I couldn't bear to loose that."   
  
Again he shook his head. "Your friend I may be, but I'm also you're servant. I'm bound to you; this is what I am. I wouldn't wish to change it either." He tipped his head a bit and let a slight smile show. "You can't put our friendship in jeopardy so easily, so don't worry."   
  
Nokoru smiled brightly and looked down at the people putting the last touches up. Akira was directing the workers laying out the cookie table and Nokoru looked back up to Suoh. He'd been shut in with Idomu since they'd gotten him, but today he'd noticed a lot of the strain between them was gone. "Suoh?"   
  
"Yes, Rijichou?"   
  
"You and Akira seem much better with each other now, and it doesn't feel forced like it did before." Suoh only nodded to him. "Did you two come to some sort of an agreement once I was out of your hair?" he asked with a sly smile and his hands clasped behind his back.   
  
Suoh huffed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "We're fine."   
  
Nokoru laughed and leaned on him. "You don't have to be embarrassed; I know you're not the cold, heartless monster you like to pretend you are." Again he huffed, but Nokoru could detect a hint of red on his face and laughed some more. "Sometimes you're adorable Suoh; you really are." The redness only darkened and Nokoru released him and reached up to pat his head. Someone called him over to check something and Nokoru stifled more laughter as the big man escaped from him. As he wiped away his tears he watched Suoh's face return to normal.   
  
He'd put down his torch for the silent ninja years ago. After all, there is no more impossible and self-destructive love than your straight, engaged, madly-in-love-with-a-wonderful-girl-that-you-set-him-up-with best friend, save perhaps your straight, once-hated-you-beyond-measure, refuses-to-return-to-Japan pen pal who stopped writing for no reason. The fact that Idomu was now trapped (maybe permanently) in a machine and thus may never be able to give him any form of physical comfort still wasn't enough to make his love life less than monumentally better and healthier. Idomu loved him (the thought was still hard to believe) and that was more than he'd thought possible. He had long since analyzed himself enough to recognize his own tendency for destructive relationships and to do his best to sabotage any chance he had. All a man had to do to catch his eye was dislike him. With a glare he turned to putty, so of course it was the one that single handedly terrorized him for weeks that he'd fallen head over heels for.   
  
That hatred was gone of course, but the distance and assumed gender preference had been enough to sustain his need to pursue men he couldn't have. Now that Idomu was here and loved him... really loved him!... it was surreal. It was almost like the solarium was another world, an ornate fantasy. Now that he was back in the real world, he was finding it a bit lonely. He half expected that he'd go back to him to find it had just been an odd fever dream and the solarium would be just plants and benches again.   
  
As sad as he was for what had been done to Idomu, he couldn't keep the wistful smile from his face, an utterly different animal to the automatic smile he had always worn. ...He felt... healthy. There was no other word for it.   
  


---

  
Seasons rolled by and the brilliant green of the trees outside the solarium shifted and turned to golds and reds and then further to dulled browns. As they danced past the glass in the early November breeze Nokoru laid one of his fine white shell disks on the antique go board. They enjoyed games of logic and puzzling with each other, as this was one of the only ways they could get any real competition going.   
  
As the time had passed the physical therapist had coxed some muscle mass back on to Idomu's still body and the sunlight that filtered through the glass around and above them had brought a healthy color to his once paper white skin. He was looking more human everyday and less like the movie prop he had. Now that they had gotten him healthy again the surgeons were itching to try their ideas. The room beyond the solarium was now a fully functional surgical ward and their game of go today was only a way to occupy their nerves while the doctors readied the room. Idomu called his next move as the doors were opened by the team.   
  
Nokoru watched them take him with hands clasped in a death grip on his fan.   
  


---

  
They brought him back out hours later. Nurses and doctors bustled around him and Nokoru took a seat next to him as they wanted for the anesthesia wore off. The sheet that always covered him was pulled away from his left foot, revealing the bandages over where the cables had entered his toes.   
  
They had of course not started with his hands, as a mistake there would be catastrophic to the hacker/pianist. Instead they had disconnected the cable to the last three toes on his left foot. If they were lost he would still be able to walk and if the cables were found to be irremovable, those toes weren't tied to anything too hard to live without. Gradually the drugs wore off and Idomu's breathing indicated he was waking. "Idomu?"   
  
His breathing shifted but the speakers said nothing for a good time, as he was too groggy to work the voice synthesizer, but after a bit he managed to "speak". "Yes, I'm awake... I assume everything went well, by the way you're all looking at me."   
  
Nokoru nodded quickly, squeezing his hand a moment. "Yes, they think everything went perfectly. All we're waiting for is to see if you can move them, though be careful. It might hurt, with the nerves being raw and don't move them much because you don't want to strain them and-"   
  
"I understand Nokoru; don't worry." He paused and he took a few breaths before he tried to move them. After an unbearable pause his voice came back up. "That's really quite painful," he said with a half laugh. "Give me another moment." He fell silent again. Suddenly the three small toes moved ever so slightly and as the doctors began talking hurriedly amongst themselves Idomu spoke up again. "I hope you all took pictures because it'll be a while before I try that again. Now if there's nothing else you need...?"   
  
The doctors quickly bowed and excused themselves, but not before Nokoru thanked them profusely. As the doors closed Nokoru let out a happy yell and hugged him tightly. He cried loudly as Idomu stayed quiet, letting the blonde man clutch him tightly. "I guess..." Idomu started. "...it's... really going to be okay?"   
  
Nokoru let out a tear filled laugh and kissed him on the cheek. "Yes, you're going to be fine. It's going to be fine..." he whispered as he curled against him and let his happy tears roll over his bare chest.   
  


---

  
The late spring air pulled around Nokoru as a stiff breeze kicked up. He let out an undignified laugh as the last of spring's petals danced around him, but it was alright, they were alone here today. Idomu chuckled behind him and he turned to smirk at him. "What's so funny?"   
  
Idomu smiled as he leaned back, watching him. "You. You never did grow up," he said softly with his hoarse voice. Nokoru looked embarrassed and hid behind his fan from the gaze of the green eyes he'd built himself. "I'm glad of that. I like you just this way."   
  
Nokoru's embarrassment fell away and he walked over to sit beside him. As he did, Idomu raised his arm slowly to drape it around him, pulling him close. Nokoru took his free hand with both of his, scars still marking where the wires once were.   
  
He wasn't perfect... He was still slow and walked with crutches, but slowly, it was coming back. His artificial eyes functioned well using the wires that already been put there while the scars healed slowly. His hands… His scarred hands…   
  
He was gaining back his dexterity but it was nowhere near where he was. The piano that Nokoru had bought for him collected dust mostly as all Idomu seemed able to do was lay his fingers against the cool keys mournfully. For months he'd utterly refused to strike even a key, but Nokoru had eventually started trying to learn to play it himself, insisting that Idomu teach him. Even now Idomu would only tap at the keys occasionally, never bringing out a full melody.   
  
As lost as he was before a piano, his tired features always brightened when he saw Nokoru, and with time maybe he would bring himself to play again. Nokoru hoped that he'd be back to normal before... it all..., but for now it was nice. He reached up to touch Idomu's cheek lightly.   
  
Tenderly Idomu drew him nearer and brought his lips against Nokoru's. First softly, before he deepened the kiss, running a hand through his blonde hair as he cradled his head. Nokoru leaned into him, wrapping his arms around him as tightly as he dared as the faded cherry blossoms fell around them.   
  
As imperfect as it was... he could stay like this forever.  
  


_-End-_

  
  



End file.
